Terminology: In order to emphasize the Jewish nature of the apostolic
writings and message I use the terms Yeshua (Jesus), Messiah
(Christ), Tanakh (Old Testament), and
Besekh (New Testament).

Few Christians when reading Revelation (or any other book
of the New Testament) stop to consider that the “New Testament is
a Jewish book, written by Jews,[1]
largely about Jews, and meant for both Jews and Gentiles.”[2]
The religion, traditions and concepts of the New Testament are
thoroughly Hebrew.[3]
The Jewishness of the apostolic writings is certainly evident in the
cultural setting of the historical events and characters, but the Hebrew
identity is especially manifest in both their terminology and the
commonality of content with the Tanakh (Old Testament). Moreover,
the incarnate Word, the Lord Yeshua, in the flesh was and is a Jew and
would have naturally spoken to His disciples in their native language,
traditions and Scriptures. Indeed, as one Messianic Rabbi pointed out,
Hebrew is the only language in Scripture that God used to speak audibly.
For more on this subject see my article
The Jewish New Testament.

Many Christian commentators assume that the language
behind the Greek words on the lips of Yeshua and the apostles to be
Aramaic instead of Hebrew, based on the incidence of a few Aramaic words
in the Greek New Testament text.[4]
The field of literary criticism generally assumes that Hebrew was
essentially unused outside of rabbinic circles.[5]
However, Jewish scholars have presented strong arguments for the
vitality and preeminence of the Hebrew language in first century Jewish
life, as well as religious writings and discourse.[6]
David Stern quotes Professor David Flusser, Orthodox Jewish scholar in
Jerusalem,

“The spoken languages
of that period [first century] were Hebrew, Aramaic, and to an extent
Greek. … It is possible that Jesus did, from time to time, make use of
the Aramaic language. But during that period Hebrew was both the daily
language and the language of study. The Gospel of Mark contains a few
Aramaic words, and this is what has misled scholars. … There is thus no
ground for assuming that Jesus did not speak Hebrew; and when we are
told (Acts 21:40) that Paul spoke Hebrew, we should take this piece of
information at face value.”[7]

There are a variety of ways in which Hebrew may be seen
as the foundation to the Greek text of Revelation and these are noted
throughout this commentary.[8]
First, there are many Hebrew words that are transliterated into Greek.
Transliteration is the attempt to reproduce the sound of a word with the
substitution of letters of the target language for the letters of the
source language without interpreting the meaning. Examples of
transliteration from Hebrew to Greek in Revelation include the words
“amen,” “Armageddon,” “Hebrew,” “Jerusalem,” “Jew,” “Satan,” “woe” and
the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.

The second evidence of the Hebrew language is the
presence of idiomatic words and phrases, which scholars call Hebraisms.
An idiom is simply an expression peculiar to a particular language. For
example, the phrase “the small and the great,” which occurs four times
in Revelation (11:18; 13:16; 19:5, 18), actually refers to the young and
the old rather than social or economic status. The titles of our Lord
reflect the variety of expressions that packaged Jewish theology about
God (1:4, 8; 4:8f; 15:3; 16:5; 21:6). Many of the idioms that Yeshua used
and are recorded in the Gospels can only be properly understood when
interpreted in their Hebrew context.[9]
Because of the presence of Hebrew idiomatic expressions, some
commentators have erroneously concluded a dependence on rabbinic Judaism
as if Yeshua and the apostles simply plagiarized rabbinic teachings
without giving them credit. It is more likely that the similarities
represent drawing on a common pool of ideas.[10]
Idiomatic language in Revelation is discussed in the commentary and the
footnotes.

The third evidence of a Hebrew text is that sometimes
taking the Greek literally results in a clumsy English translation or a
sentence may even fail to make sense. However, the verse makes perfect
sense when translated back into Hebrew. For example, in 10:1 an angel is
described with feet like pillars. However, feet cannot be “like
pillars,” only legs can. The problem is resolved by recognizing that
while Greek has separate words for “feet” and “legs” Hebrew has only one
word that can mean both. Apparently, a Greek translator unacquainted
with Hebrew nuances translated the Hebrew word as “feet” when the
intention was “legs.”

The fourth evidence of a Hebrew text is the use of
conjunctions. Joining individual words in a list within a sentence or
one clause to another with the conjunction “and” is a frequent
characteristic feature of the Hebrew Scriptures, whereas in Greek
literature an independent clause will be subordinated to the main clause
of the sentence and the use of conjunctions minimized.[11]
The conjunction “and” in Hebrew functions generally as a prefix to
Hebrew words without using a separate word. To make a Hebrew word part
of a connecting sequence, the letter vav (v)
is added to the noun as its first letter.[12]
There are several conjunctions in the Greek language, but kai,
meaning “and,” also” or “even” is by far the most common in the
New Testament[13]
and used in the LXX to translate the vav character. English
normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two
elements in a series of three or more, so while the KJV faithfully
renders kai modern Bible versions leave 80% of the instances of
kai untranslated to avoid awkwardness. Yet, in the Greek
New Testament there is an excessive use of kai,[14]
an excellent proof of an original Hebrew text.

In addition to the Hebrew linguistic foundation of
Revelation, the content of Revelation is decidedly Hebrew in three
significant ways. First, as Stern points out, while there are few direct
quotations, there are over 500 allusions to the Tanakh,
principally from Exodus, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and
Zechariah.[15]
The overall effect of so many references is to anchor Revelation in the
God-inspired words of Israel’s prophets. Of course, except for the
prologue (1:1-8), John writes in a straightforward narrative of a
personal experience and nowhere does he use the familiar “it is written”
(or similar words) to refer to one of the Hebrew prophets as Yeshua and
the apostles do in the rest of the New Testament.[16]
John declares that his narrative is a revelation directly from his
Messiah. The similarities between Revelation and the Hebrew Prophets
exist because both were inspired by the same source as “men moved by the
Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Pet 1:21) and both reflect God’s grace to
warn His people and mankind that the Day of the Lord is coming.

Second, Revelation contains the same elements as the
story of the deliverance of Israel from their bondage in Egypt. Dan
Juster has summarized the points of commonality between the two books as
follows (1) preparation of God’s people, (2) the plagues of God on
worldwide Egypt, (3) God’s people protected, (4) Antimessiah, the last
days Pharaoh, (5) the exodus rapture, (6) wrath of the Lamb and His
armies and (7) entry into the promised Land.[17]
Revelation could then be deemed the story of the last Exodus.

Third, Alfred Edersheim (1825-1889) identified many
parallels between the narrative and prophetic symbols in Revelation and
the architecture, traditions, customs, worship and administration
practices associated with the Jerusalem Temple.

“But it is specially
remarkable, that the Temple-references with which the Book of Revelation
abounds are generally to minutiae, which a writer who had not been as
familiar with such details, as only personal contact and engagement with
them could have rendered him, would scarcely have even noticed,
certainly not employed as part of his imagery. They come in naturally,
spontaneously, and so unexpectedly, that the reader is occasionally in
danger of overlooking them altogether; and in language such as a
professional man would employ, which would come to him from the previous
exercise of his calling. Indeed, some of the most striking of these
references could not have been understood at all without the
professional treatises of the Rabbis on the Temple and its services.”[18]

[1] Luke is
generally considered to have been a Jewish proselyte (David
Stern, Restoring the Jewishness of the Gospel, 61), but I
believe evidence points to Luke being a Hellenistic Jew. See the
comment on Luke in
Witnesses of the Good News.

[5] The influence
of literary criticism is so strong that even though the Greek
specifically says Hebrais, meaning “Hebrew,” in John 5:2;
19:17, 20; 20:16; Acts 21:40; 22:2 and 26:14, the NIV
translators rendered the Greek word as “Aramaic” in all those
seven occurrences. The CEV translates “Hebrais” in five
out of these seven verses with “Aramaic.” The NLT also uses
“Aramaic” three times. The NCV avoided making the choice between
“Hebrew” and “Aramaic” by translating Hebrais as “Jewish
language” in all of the seven verses. Ironically, the NIV
translates Hebrais as “Hebrew” or “Hebraic” in Acts 6:1;
2 Corinthians 11:22; Philippians 3:5; Revelation 9:11 and 16:16.

[6] Bivin &
Blizzard, op. cit., 17-21. Notable Hebrew scholars Moshe
Bar-Asher, Harris Birkeland, Frank Cross, David Flusser,
Jehoshua Grintz, Pinhas Lapide and Abbe J.T. Milik are cited to
substantiate the thesis. While not acknowledged by Bivin, David
Stern has likewise made a significant contribution to
understanding the Jewish roots of the New Testament with
his many publications on similar themes.

[7] David Flusser,
Jewish Sources in Early Christianity (1989), quoted in
Stern, 91.

[8] In the ongoing
debate over the best English translation the argument usually
resorts to a discussion of the best Greek text and whether the
TR, M-Text or the earliest MSS should be given greater weight,
since the original autographs no longer exist. Scholars have not
adequately considered the thesis that the apostles wrote most,
if not all, the New Testament originally in Hebrew and
then others translated the circulated works into Greek. The same
linguistic evidences for Hebrew can be cited in the rest of the
New Testament.

[13] Dana and
Mantey, A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, 249.

[14]Kai is
uncommonly frequent in the apostolic narratives (in well over 3,200
verses) and in over 1,800 verses in the rest of the New
Testament. In Revelation kai occurs in 369 out of 384
verses (sixth highest count of New Testament books),
occurring in many verses three or more times. Olive Tree
Bible Search Engine (http://www.olivetree.com).